What happens in Cambridge
by kohlbits
Summary: Alex is at University in Cambridge, England, studying the art of Fencing. She and Paige agree on an open relationship, but when things turn from bad to worse, can they get through it?
1. where it leaves off

**Author's Note; Thanks for reading my second fic. Let me know what you think, R&R please!**

Alex is at Cambridge University in England, studying Fencing. She was taking a fencing class back home in Toronto, living with Marco, Dylan and Paige when one day out of the blue her fencing instructor told her she was good enough to compete and study for a few months at Cambridge. All she had to do was come up with 500 dollars. With her mom being sober now, and having joined AA, coming up with the money was pretty easy.

After a month of being at the University and learning more than she ever thought possible, she and Paige, who called each other pretty much every day despite the time difference, agreed on having an open relationship. Alex grudgingly agreed. She knew Paige was going through a difficult time, what with almost failing out of Banting (a life long family dream) and having her life plans derailed. For the first time in a long time, Alex's life was going extremely well and she was very happy about everything in life. She just wished she could be there for Paige instead of being thousands of miles away. Granted they were in an open relationship now, but at least they weren't broken up. And as Paige says, "I love you too much to let you go, but I just dont know what I want right now, its just too hard to figure out!"

Alex laid on her bed with her eyes closed, "please tell me we'll be able to work things out when I get home?"

Paige sniffled, "well duh, Alex. I need you in my life, you're my best friend."

As the two got off the phone together, Alex couldnt help but wipe away a tear from her face, maybe it was because she missed being able to actually be there for Paige, or that she just missed home, or even a combination of the two or just other things. She wasnt sure and she hated feeling so helpless.

That weekend back in Toronto, Marco and Paige threw a party to try to cheer her up. They invited all their old friends, including Hazel, Spinner and Manny, and they came with a few other friends, and lots of alcohol.

"I got a disco ball!" yelled Spinner as he handed it to Marco.

"what do you want me to do with it?!" Marco said squinting his eyes.

"Hang it up of course!" Spinner replied, chugging his beer and swaying to the loud music that was vibrating throughout the whole house.

Spinner wandered through the living room looking for Paige. She was sunk deep into the bean bag she was sitting in covered in a blanket, sulking in the corner. He sat down beside her, handing her a beer, "how you doin!" he yelled over the music.

She pursed her lips but didnt say anything.

"I've missed you!" he looked around, "hey! Lets have a drinking contest like old times, what do you say!"

Paige could never say no to him, especially when he was drunk and his lisp was exaggerated.

"what movie do you want to watch?!" he rummaged through the DVDs that were sitting next to the TV. "Oooooh! Black Hawk Down! Ever see this movie?!" he yelled, "We are so watching this movie!" and with that, he yelled at his other friends to join the drinking game.

"what's the game?" asked Hazel as she opened her beer, taking a seat next to Paige.  
"First, has anybody seen this movie?" he asked, and received a unanimous No from everybody, "good, neither have I." and he chuckled to himself. "How about we..." he thought for a second, "ok, how about this!" and he laughed out loud, "for every gun we see, we have to take a drink!"

"you are so Dumb, Spin!" yelled Marco as somebody cued another person to turn off the loud music, "its a fuckin' War movie, there's going to be guns everywhere!"

"Fine with me!" he said, holding up his beer with a smile.

Paige laughed, "ok ok, but I dont want to do that. How about Hazel and I drink to every swear word!" she began to pout happily.

"Deal!" yelled Spinner as he turned on the movie.

Everybody was laughing and drinking and getting drunk, having a great time when Marco slurred, "waiit, youuu have ta pause this part!" and he grabbed for the remote and paused it, laughing, "do you realize how many shots are in this gun! No wait, I mean, how many Guns are in this shot! This scene?"  
"Holy Shit!" laughed Spinner, "I cant even count how many guns there are! Do you realize how wasted I am right now! Look! There's even one over there on the jeep hanging up!"  
"Dumb idea guys" laughed Hazel as she cracked open another beer, "you guys are drinking every 2 seconds." and she bumped shoulders with a laughing, drunk Paige, "glad we dont have as many swear words!"

The game lasted long into the night, the movie being paused every several minutes so nobody would miss a drink.  
By the end of it, Manny and Marco were passed out; one on the floor and the other on the sofa. Eventually Paige and Spinner were the last two to finish the game and by the end of their game, Paige was so drunk, she lead Spinner to her room, letting him lower her onto the bed before sliding himself on top of her where she fell asleep to the advances of his kisses.


	2. dropping the bomb

The next morning Paige woke up and realized she wasnt alone in her bed. And that she was half naked!

"_Get Out of My BEEEED!!" _She screamed, half kicking and half pushing Spinner onto the floor, still panicking, _"Out! OUT! GET OUT!"  
"You wanted this!" _Spinner yelled back at her, trying to stand up from having fallen on the floor.

"_I Cheated on Alex!"_ she continued screaming, covering her forehead with her hand.

Marco came running into the bedroom because of all the screaming, he swung open the bedroom door only to shut it just as quick when he saw a naked Spinner running around the room trying to find his pants, "You alright?!" he yelled through the door.

"_NOOOOOO!" _panicked Paige, "oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!"

"Its Okay!" Spinner said trying to sound confident, "you guys are in an open relationship, she'll be fine with it--"  
"I'm Not Fine with it!" Paige yelled through gritted teeth, "get out of my house, NOW!!" and she jumped out of bed half hitting and half pushing Spinner out the door. When he was thrown onto the front steps he was only half dressed and Paige threw the rest of his clothes out at him before slamming the door, shaking the whole house with the effort.  
"Where's the phone!" she shrieked running from one room to the other.

"Paige!" yelled Dylan, "_Stop_ running around like a crazy woman!" and he grabbed her and pulled her into a hug.

"I need to tell her!" cried Paige as she half struggled to get loose.

"Not right now you dont, not in this panicky condition that you're in" he said calmly, slowly leading her to the couch where they both sat down, "I've got a plan of action that will get you out of this constant state of agitation and stress and depression." he thought for a second then tilted his head, "well, a little bit at least. We can deal with the school thing, that's what I'm trying to say. I got you a tutor."  
"Thats great, Dyl" Paige said sarcastically, "but how am I going to fix what I just did to Alex?!"

"You guys agreed to see other people, she has no right to get upset over it."

Paige buried her face in her hands, "But _I'm_ upset about it! Which only means she will be too!"

"are you calm?" he asked with a tilted head.

"More so than I was a few minutes ago."

"then call her," he replied, handing the phone to her.

In the meantime, Alex was bouncing around the room with one of her fencing buddies. They both lived on the same floor of the Cambridge dorm, and both from Canada. It was around 7pm and they were psyching themselves up for one of the fencing matches they had later that night. They were both wearing their fencing jackets while making a light dinner when one of their friends came into the room.

"cheers mates!" yelled their English friend happily.

"Whats up Boyce!" Alex replied with the same enthusiasm, "ready for tonight's match! Against Oxford at that!" and she tossed him an apple from the counter. Although she lived in a dorm, the dorm's setup was apartment style so there was a kitchenette and a bathroom in the room.

"Oxford's game is Bollocks!" laughed Boyce as he took a seat near his two friends.

"What are you talking about, they kick our asses every match!" chuckled the other Canadian, Jade.

A few minutes later, Alex's phone rang and she picked it up knowing it was her girlfriend, Paige. She was excited but then became concerned since it sounded as though Paige had been crying.  
"whats going on babe" she said as she walked around the room looking for her shoes.

Paige blurted out, "I know we have an open relationship but I slept with Spinner and I wanted you to know!"  
Alex spun around with a wide-eyed look upon her face looking at her friends, "_What the fuck,"_ she mouthed, waving her free hand in the air trying to figure out something quick to say.

She managed to choke out, "Oh, um, ok," she didnt know whether to be upset, angry or what ever else. She thought quick on her feet though, "um, it's okay right, I mean, we did agree on the open relationship.", still wide-eyed she finished, "hey babe, I gotta go, I'm late for my fencing match"

"can we talk later?" Paige asked quickly.

"ah dont worry about it, its cool. See you later" Alex said just as quick before hanging up the phone and turning to her friends who looked at her with confused looks upon their faces.

"Paige just told me she cheated on me..." she took a bite of her sandwich, "with an ex boyfriend for that matter." she looked hurt and confused at the same time as she dropped herself into the seat closest to her, "what am I supposed to say to that?"

"fuck her" replied Boyce simply as he stood up and grabbed both his friends, "besides, its time to go kick Oxford's asses!"


	3. it all unravels

The Fencing match was on campus so the three didnt have far to go when they headed out of Alex's dorm room. They were running just a little behind and decided to run the whole way there, leaving hardly any time to practice before their turns in the match.  
Things were happening so fast that Alex had no time to even begin to process what had happened over the phone just 10 minutes before. It was Boyce's turn to duel, of which Alex yellled out, "Dont get black carded today, Boyce!"

Jade couldnt help but laugh, "he always manages to blow it, doesnt he?" She looked around the big gym in hopes of seeing a famous Fencer. This is Cambridge after all and many famous Fencers come from this particular school, or even just come to visit. She jumped with excitement, patting Alex's leg to get her attention, "Oh my god, look!" And she pointed towards the other end of the gym, "I think that's Monique!" she squinted to get a better look, "oh my god, it is! Do you realize how cool this is!"

Alex chuckled, "I dont know who that is?"

"Monique is only one of the best Canadian Fencers of our time!" Jade replied in disbelief, "she grew up in Ontario—where I'm from! But she lives in Toronto now, how do you not know this?!"

"Because I dont care?" replied Alex nonchalantly. She looked out towards the fencing area and yelled again, "Dont black-card BOYCE!"

After being down two points, Boyce ended up black-carding, which is a term that means doing something serious enough to get expelled from the tournament. In Boyce's case, he knocked the other person's sword out of his hand and then proceeded to smack him in the head with his own sword. Boyce threw his mask off in contempt when he was thrown out of the match, "Bollocks! He shouted at the referee before stomping off to the sidelines.

"I hate this game!" he breathed as he sat down next to his friends.

It was Jade's turn to duel and she won her match. Then it was one of their other teammates' turn before it was Alex's. She was the last to go before the tournament finished for the night. Alex lost as well, losing 4 to 5, almost taking the entire five minutes to finish the round.

As they were packing their stuff to leave the arena, Alex's phone rings in her duffel bag. It's her mom. "Hey Mom!" she said happily, "guess what, we just had another tournament, but we lost!"

Her mom sounded intoxicated, which made Alex ask her if she was. When her mom replied that she had been drinking and that she slipped off the wagon today, Alex couldn't help but feel even more frustrated as she began fighting with her mom over the phone. She and her two friends had walked outside and were standing against the building, waiting for Alex to get off the phone. Jade was leaning against one of the windows when Alex hung up the phone. With a hint of frustration she said, "What are the odds of two people breaking your heart in the same day?" and she looked around for something that would help ease her frustrations.

She thought for a second, pacing back and forth, then said, "who wants to take me to the E.R.?" and she lunged forward and punched the building's steel exit door with her fist as hard as she could, realizing just as she was doing it how stupid of an idea it was. For the time being though, it did take the pain from her heart away, but only to be placed in her throbbing hand and wrist.

The sound of the hit surprised Jade as she jumped away from the window and watched Alex keel over in pain, holding her arm, "I'm not even going to ask!" she gasped.

"_And here I thought I had anger issues_!" Boyce said as he walked towards her, "I get kicked out of matches for throwing fits and being a poor sport, why in the world would you actually want to hurt yourself ya weirdo?!" and with that, he got behind her and pushed her to run towards his car which was parked on campus not too far away.

"Oh my goodness!" Jade said sounding alarmed, "I can already see your hand swelling up like a balloon!"

They arrived at the Emergency room and Alex was seen immediately. The doctor didnt have to take X-rays to see that her hand was broken, but he did so just to see the extent of the damages done.

"I'm not sure what you did" he said as he looked at the X-ray images, "but you're lucky that you didnt break more bones in your hand than you did. You jammed your index knuckle here" and he pointed to the X-ray image with his wand, "and you broke two carpel bones in your wrist and one of the phalanges."

"What?" asked Jade looking confused. She was in the exam room lending support to Alex, "what's that mean, Doc, in normal people language please?"

The doctor took off his glasses then replied, "It just means that she broke two bones in her wrist and one in her finger."

Alex was slouched in the chair with her hand resting in her lap. The doctor then looked at her and asked, "How's the pain?"

"as painful as a broken hand could be?" she said sarcastically.

"well, do you think you will want to take a muscle relaxer or a sedative?"  
"for what?" she asked.

He drew in a deep breath, starting to lose his patience, "so I can manipulate the bones back into their original positions and give you a cast and send you on your way."

"Oh right. Whatever, just do it" replied Alex, rolling her eyes.

"now's not the time to be sarcastic my love!" whispered Jade in a semi-panic tone.

After the doctor re-set Alex's bones, she got to pick the color of her cast. "you get to pick as two colors" the nurse said cheerfully, "what colors would you like?"

Alex looked over the colors a moment then asked, "can I choose pink for the cotton underlay thing? And um..." she picked up the black with her good hand, "and this for the outer layer?"  
The nurse went to work preparing the cast while Alex still held her swelled hand close to her, cradling it gently. The cast was laid around her index and middle fingers to keep her finger from bending at all, and then covered the majority of the hand, the wrist and forearm.

Finally the hospital ordeal was over and the three got to head back to the dorms. As they were walking out, Jade thoughtfully pointed out, "you know, the pink complements the black quite nicely. Good choices my friend." and she put her arm around Alex's shoulders as they walked towards the car. Alex was quiet and remained so for the rest of the night before she went to bed. She thanked her two friends for sticking by her, even though her stupid dumbass moments.

A few days later Alex decided that she needed to go home to be with the ones she loved. She had a month left in her program but she said she needed to work on things at home. She was no good to her program if her heart and head weren't in it. Her Fencing coach understood and helped her get back to Canada the following week.

"Keep in touch, eh?" Jade said as she hugged her Canadian friend, "maybe we'll see each other at the olympics." they both laughed, "or at least a Fencing tourney".

"you forget," Alex smiled, "I'm not studying Fencing like you are. But I'll definitely keep in touch and tell you how life turns out."

With that, Alex headed to the airport to catch a plane back to Toronto. She definitely made some great friends at Cambridge, and will miss them dearly, but her place was at home and she knew it.


	4. coming home

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: NO, NO! There will be no more Spaige! It was just to add to the dramatic storyline. Haha**

In truth, Alex wasnt sure what she'd find when she arrived back in Toronto. She hadnt called anybody to inform them that she was on her way home a month earlier than expected. She did though, reluctantly call Jay who met her at the airport. Even though they hardly spoke anymore, Jay knew what was going on in the life of his old friend and more than anything, he wanted to be the friend that she needed right now.

Alex got off the plane and walked to the baggage claim with her carry-on luggage where she met up with Jay. The two met silently with their eyes and were so grateful to see each other after a long time away. Without speaking, they embraced in a warm hug, a tear slipping away from Alex's eyes. She quickly wiped it away, chuckling, "glad to be home."

"Let me help you with your bags!" Jay said happily as he stepped forward and took the carry-on from Alex's shoulder. He realized he could be a smartass and even a jerk, but he understood that today was just a day where he needed to be the supportive friend that he knew he could be. He missed Alex after all, he didnt want to push her away like has in the past. The two waited at the baggage claim for what seemed like hours until finally Alex's two other suitcases popped up.

They walked in a kind of nostalgic silence to the car parked in one of the parking garages, and it seemed as though Jay was lost.

"where'd you park, Jay?" asked Alex with a hint of amusement.

"You know..." he said looking around, "I'm not really sure." he stopped walking and scratched his forehead, somewhat smiling.

"did you save the ticket you got from the booth?" she asked as she set the suitcase down and sat on it.

Jay squinted his eyes and looked confused, "what ticket?"

"are you serious?!" laughed Alex.

"nope!" Jay laughed triumphantly, "I'm just messin' with you. I parked right here." and he pointed to a black mustang sitting directly in front of them.

"holy shit, who'd you steal that from!" Alex blurted out, standing up.

"I didnt steal it, Lexi!" Jay said sternly, "while you were gone I got to thinkin about what you said about my life goin' nowhere cuz I wasnt doin' anything about it.'

"ok?" she said looking at him confused as he opened up the trunk of the mustang.

Jay chuckled, "well, everybody knows I can be a sweet talker if I want to be so I have put those skills to good use and I'm making pretty damn good money doin' it."  
"spill it Jay, what's the job?"

"I sell cars at one of the major leading dealerships in Toronto" he said confidently, "and I'm leasing this baby right now, and with the discount I get, I can more than afford it. You should see how fast she goes!" he slid his hand down the side of the mustang to help show it off.

During the car ride home, the two caught up on what had been happening in the last two months of their lives. Jay could tell Alex was still heart broken but didnt want to say anything in case it made her resent him.

Even though Alex still lived at The Out House with Marco and Dylan, and now Paige since the new semester had started not too long ago, she chose to stay with Jay at his apartment not too far from town. Her car was still at The Out House and Paige had the keys so eventually she would have to get over there to get it...or maybe even to work things out with Paige. She couldnt even stand the idea of the possibility of running into her.

"whats the plan?" Jay asked as they pulled into the driveway of the house he was renting with several friends. Spinner being one of them, of which at this point in time Alex didnt know that, and Jay being himself just completely forgot to tell her, but did mention to Spinner earlier in the day that Alex would be staying with this for a day or so.

Alex shrugged, "Dunno"

"I hate to ask this, Lex, but I'm just curious, whats the status on you and Paige?" it was an innocent question and Alex could hear it in his voice, so she answered with a delayed, "dunno" and pursed her lips and shook her head, "I havent talked to anybody since the night she told me, and that was...what, two weeks ago, ish?" and she chuckled as she raised her arm with the cast on it to draw attention to it, "this is what happens when you cant fix the shit in your life"

In the mean time, Spinner was just getting out of work and was anxious to get back to the house to face his ex girlfriend's girlfriend. And at times, though he would never admit it, he was intimidated by her because of the way she carried herself. He realized that when he arrived at the house he would have to talk to her. He hated seeing Paige so upset and heart broken, but he couldnt talk to her about what had happened that night a couple weeks ago because she didnt remember. He had to explain to Alex what happened.

As Alex was in the den of the house, Spinner walked into the house, thoughts running through his mind as he still wasn't sure how things would turn out.

He found Alex in the den, facing the fireplace. He knocked on the open door which made Alex turn around. As their eyes met, hers became wide eyed and puzzled as to why he was standing in front of her, and Spinner felt and looked scared.

"can we talk?" he said nervously.


	5. what are you doing here

"I didnt sleep with Paige" he said quickly, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead.

"what?!" Alex said softly in disbelief, definitely not expecting a conversation to begin this way, half facing the fire place.

Spinner moved closer and repeated what he said, "I didnt sleep with Paige, I wouldnt have slept with her even if she wanted me to. We just slept in the same bed and did nothing more than make out. She's in love with you Alex, I wouldnt do anything to jeopardize that. I promise you this."

"why are you telling me this?" Alex asked, turning around to fully face Spinner who looked like he might pass out.

He noticed her cast and took a small step backwards, not sure if she'd try to hit him with it or not. Alex noticed the look on his face and she said softly, "dont worry, I'm not going to hit you."

He continued speaking, "I'm telling you this because Paige is heart broken and she misses you so much. She doesnt know what happened that night because she was too drunk to remember." he paused, studying Alex's blank expression, "My guess is that she assumed we slept together since we woke up in the same bed together the next morning. Well, actually, she literally kicked me onto the floor." he paused again shaking his head at the memory. It made Alex chuckle inside, then she replied, "did she freak out too?"

"oh yeah! Shrieks and everything" laughed Spinner, and for a moment, they were both on the same page and laughing together about the same thing. That moment lightened up the tension and Spinner didnt feel so awkwardly nervous anymore.

After a minute or two of silence, Alex said, "it means a lot that you came to tell me the truth, Spinner."

"Well, she means a lot to me, and if being with you makes her happy, then more power to her. I hate seeing her so upset and nobody can compare to you. or even, you know, comfort her like you can."

With that compliment, Alex looked at the floor bashfully, "thanks, man."

After their encounter, Alex rushed to find Jay, "hey, where are your keys?"

"hanging up why?" he asked, splattering peanut butter on a piece of bread.  
"Lady on a mission!" Alex said over her shoulder as she ran towards the door where the keys were.

All Jay could say was "Bring her back in one piece, Lexi! Or there will be Hell to Pay!", absent mindedly pointing the knife in her direction.

But Alex was already halfway to the car to even hear what Jay yelled to her. She was too busy thinking of what she wanted to say to Paige. It was about a 10 minute drive to The Out House, but she wasnt sure if she should be excited or nervous. It had been over 2 months since she last saw Paige so who knows how things would turn out.

Meanwhile, back at The Out House, Dylan and Marco went out to buy food for the house while Paige stayed back and did some studying in her room. Her desk was on the opposite wall, facing the window that overlooked the backyard, and beside her was a shelf that held various pictures of herself, Alex, some friends, and more pictures of Alex. She couldnt help but stare at the picture on the far left, the one that was a candid shot of Alex holding her Fencing mask, yelling happily towards the camera at something, Paige didnt remember what it was now, but she remembered how happy they both were that day. Alex's dark hair was waving somewhat in the breeze and the camera picked that up too. _Such a great picture_, Paige thought to herself as she leaned over to pick it up.

She sighed, "Oh Alex...I miss you so much, you dont even know. It breaks my heart knowing that I cant touch you for another month. Who knows if I'll even hear your voice...its been 2 weeks since the last time I did." she chuckled to herself, "you keep me sane, I dont know what I'd do if you weren't in my life. I need you so much right now, I'm such a loser for telling you I wanted an open relationship..."

Little did she know, Alex had made her way into the house quietly and was standing just outside the door peeking in and listening to everything that Paige had said. She heard Paige sniffle, which just meant that she was probably crying now. It probably didnt help either that Hinder's _Lips of an Angel_ was playing softly on the radio.

Before Alex could think of anything to say, Paige continued talking to the photo, "I wish I could see you right now."

and all Alex could think of saying was, "What, are you five? Wishes like that dont just come true!" and she smiled as she noticed the very surprised look on Paige's face who shot up out of the chair, wiping the tears from her eyes, watching Alex stand up straight from peeking into the bedroom to walking slowly towards her.

Paige was definitely dumbfounded, her mouth was gaping open but no words would come out. Alex slowly walked towards her, smiling slightly. As she initiated the warm bear hug, Paige whisper yelled excitedly, "_What are you doing here!_" and hugged Alex even closer and longer, not ever wanting to let go. Just the scent of Alex was intoxicating and Paige felt as though she could just die and go to heaven.

"I live here, remember" Alex joked, remembering how good it was to be in Paige's arms again. At this moment she realized that everything she had been through, and everything they have gone through, everything from this moment on was going to be alright.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I realize this is a short chapter, but it was pretty much just based on their initial reunion. yay! R&R PLEASE!**


	6. welcome home

The two sat on the bed together for almost an hour talking about the last two months without each other and how things had been going. Alex sat with her back against the headboard while Paige sat with her head on Alex's chest and her arm around Alex's waist. Alex had her arms wrapped around Paige as they started at the beginning of those two long months apart.

"I missed this" Alex said with a smile, "I missed you and I just felt so helpless not being able to be here for you. It broke my heart when you suggested an open relationship and things just went downhill from there."

"Alex, I want to tell you something-" Paige said sounding a bit reluctant as she looked into Alex's eyes, but before she could say anything, Marco could be heard downstairs.

"_What is Jay's car doing in the driveway! Jay, I'm going to kick your ass if you're in my house!" _

"Why would he be in here?" asked Dylan innocently.

Marco glared at him as he left the room in a sort of rampage-ish style, looking for one of the few people he hated most.

Alex took this opportunity to walk down the stairs quietly and hide at the bottom for when Marco came around.

"Paige!" yelled Marco, "where are you!" he was in the hallway now, heading towards the stairs.

"upstairs, Marco, why are you yelling?!" Paige replied as she found it amusing that Marco didnt realize Alex was home early from Cambridge.

"Is Jay with you?!" he asked, sounding irritated.

"Why would Jay be with me?" asked Paige shaking her head, _I'd kick Jay's ass if he ever came near me_, she said to herself.

As soon as Marco rounded the corner he bumped right smack dab into Alex who was standing on the first step. His mouth flew open as he stumbled backwards.

"Hi" she said smiling brightly with her hands in her back pockets.

"What!?" replied Marco sounding confused, "what are you doing here?!" and he threw himself forward grabbing her into a hug, "oh my god, I've missed you!" and he was able to connect why Jay's car was out front.

"Yeah, I took Jay's car for a joy ride."  
"Why didnt you call either of us to pick you up at the airport, we totally would have?!" Marco said as he finally let go of Alex.

"I wanted it to be a surprise" she said simply, "besides, the look on your face was priceless!" and she began laughing recalling the look upon Marco's face just moments ago.

Just then Paige came down the stairs, putting her arms around Alex's shoulders hugging her from behind, "awwwwww" Marco said happily, "you two are just the sweetest couple I have ever seeeen!" he then looked towards the kitchen and remembered that Dylan was making dinner, "oh, come with me!" he said as he made his way towards the kitchen, "we're going to cook for you girls tonight!"

"rephrase that!" Dylan yelled from the kitchen, "you mean, _I'm_ going to cook for everybody!"

"yeah, of course, thats exactly what I meant" replied Marco as he kissed his boyfriend on the cheek from behind.

Alex and Paige made their way into the kitchen, holding hands and whispering sweet things to each other as they entered the room.

"Al! Whats up!" Dylan yelled happily as he looked up from chopping the tomatoes, "what happened to your arm!" he said, seemingly being the first and only person to notice she had a black cast on her arm.

"I broke my wrist and two fingers" she said, slightly smiling. She shrugged her shoulders then said, "very bad day with no outlet to ease the tension so I punched a door."

"Oh was it when my sister called to tell you she slept with her ex boyfriend" Dylan remarked as he pointed the knife he was using towards Paige.

"real classy, Dyl!" Scoffed Marco, "not the time to bring that up!" and he threw a piece of sliced tomato in Dylan's direction.

"Dont throw things at me" he replied, reciprocating the action, not noticing the redness covering Paige's face. Alex chuckled, "she didnt sleep with Spinner"

"I didnt?!" Paige replied in a sort of shocked tone of voice.

"She didnt?!" replied the boys in unison.

"Spinner was naked and running around the room trying to find his clothes when I accidentally walked in on them! How do you explain that?" Marco said sounding disgusted.

Paige threw her arms on the table and buried her face in them and muffled out, "he's always slept naked—can we stop talking about this please?! This is so embarrassing!"

Alex continued to chuckle in amusement, "When I arrived at Jay's house today, Spinner met with me and told me about that night. He said Paige was too drunk to remember what happened, and at first I thought I was going to have to knock him out for trying to talk shit, but he totally didnt." she put her casted arm around Paige's shoulder and smiled, "he said he can tell that I make you happy and he wants nothing more in the world than to see you be as happy as you are with me."

"now that's cute!" Dylan said as he continued chopping.

Alex stood up, still holding onto Paige's hands as she walked backwards towards the stairs. She looked towards the boys, then said, "we have some catching up to do, call us when dinner is ready?" and she winked before leading Paige upstairs. When they got to their room, she pushed Paige against the wall gently, then pressed herself against her, whispering sweet nothings in her ear. "I've been meaning to do this since I first saw you today" she smiled, then began kissing Paige's collarbone, then her neck, then nibbling her ear before coming around to slip her tongue inside her mouth where Paige let out a muffled moan, which told Alex that she was really enjoying it.

Alex then pulled Paige off the wall and pushed her onto the bed where the two began making out, they wanted it to last since they hadn't seen each other in two months. Alex was teasing Paige, touching her lips with her tongue then pulling away, which only made Paige moan for more. Just as the two were making out again, Dylan was heard, "_Dinner time ladies!!"_

"Dont make us come and get you!" laughed Marco as he stood at the bottom of the stairs.

"are you _serious_?!" Alex said as she looked up from kissing Paige to the hallway.

Paige began to chuckle, "dont worry, we have all night" and she planted a big wet kiss on Alex's cheek before Alex rolled off of her and the two made their way to the kitchen downstairs.

As the two rounded the corner, Dylan looked at Paige, "hey, so tell Marco and Al about their surprise!"

"what surprise?" inquired Marco.  
"The one where we tell you that we enrolled you guys in a cooking class" Paige grinned as she took a seat at the table, "we might be able to move it up now that Alex is back early."  
"what? I cook," Alex said, "I just dont like to so therefore I choose not to."  
"bacon and eggs dont count there my friend" laughed Dylan as he served the dinner, "dig in!"


	7. cooking classes

**Author's Note; might not be the best chapter, but it's leading up to a couple good ones. R&R PLEASE! makes me happy**

A few days later, as hoped, Dylan and Paige were able to get the cooking class moved up to the following weekend. Even though it was a basic cooking class, and Dylan knew more about the basics than the other three, he still went to support his buddies.

The first day was definitely boring. All textbook and monotoned lectures. _Talk about a real lecture._ Alex sighed to herself, resting her chin on her hand, which was propped up by her elbow on the desk. It was a classroom type setting after all. She looked around and noticed how only a couple other students looked as bored as she was. The other students were following along in the textbook or taking notes. At one point she tried making a paper airplane, which got her in a bit of trouble from Paige and the cooking instructor, so she was moved to the other side of the room so she would be less likely to get into trouble.

After class the cooking teacher, Mrs. Simons, asked to speak to Alex alone. She put her hand lightly on her chin and she looked Alex up and down trying to figure her out. After a moment of silence, Alex finally sputtered out "I'm sorry for being rude in your class Ms. Simmons-"

"Simons" she corrected, still with her hand on her chin, and her glasses tilting off the bridge of her nose.

"right" Alex forced out in a whisper, pointing her finger at the teacher.

Mrs. Simons continued to look at Alex without speaking for a little bit longer before, once again, Alex interupted, "my friends are waiting, do you mind if I get going?"

"no no, not at all. I'm glad we had this talk" she said as she semi-shooed Alex out of her classroom. She was definitely one of those care-free hippie kind of teachers.

"right, me too" Alex chuckled as she walked out into the hall. _And I have to deal with this for another 3 weeks? _She thought to herself.

Paige pouted and half heartedly hit Alex in the arm.

"what was that for?" Alex laughed as she rubbed her arm. She looked into Paige's eyes, and continued to chuckle, "oh dont worry, she didnt kick me out." she stopped and pulled Paige into a bear hug, "I promise I'll be good the next time. Or at least, I'll try to be."

"You better try" Paige said, still pouting.

"So when are we going to actually do some cooking?" asked Marco as the four headed towards his car to go back home.

"a few more sessions at least" Dylan replied as he noticed his sister and Alex stopped walking, "focus, girls!" he yelled as he pointed towards his watch, it was around 8pm and he wanted to get to bed before 9 since he had a big test in the morning.

The next few sessions were just as boring, but then they finally got to break up into groups of four and head towards the kitchen area. Mrs. Simons set down the wand she was using to point to the overhead and said cheerily, "All right ladies and gentlemen, find your aprons and break into groups of four, now comes the good stuff! Actual cooking!" and she clapped her hands giddily and made her way towards the kitchen area as well. Alex and Paige, Dylan and Marco found their aprons and took up space in one of the empty kitchenettes.

Across from them were what appeared to be younger people around the ages of 17 or so. Alex noticed one of them as being the boy who appeared to be just as bored as she was during the first day. She and Marco tried befriending them, but the 17 year old rebellious boy didnt appear to be having any of that as he was snippy and sarcastic towards Marco.

"All right class!" boomed Mrs. Simons, "as you will see, there are two sheets of paper in front of you. You can either follow the instructions and make sunny-side up eggs and bacon with crispy toast, or you can follow the other instructions and make a supreme omelet" of which she smacked her lips hungrily at the thought, "complete with muffins and jam".

"mmm, breakfast for dinner" Marco said with a smile.  
"I can totally make the eggs!" volunteered Alex as she cracked her knuckles.

"we know" Dylan said, leaning over and taking the egg recipe where he proceeded to rip it up, "and that is why we're going to make the supreme omelet breakfast."

Alex slumped her shoulders and pouted, "way to ruin my fun"

"Its not about having fun" Dylan replied matter-of-factly, "its about learning _new_ things."

As everybody was learning their way around their kitchenettes, Alex couldnt help but throw little pieces of everything at Paige, which only made Paige annoyed at first, but then she too began chuckling and having a little fun. Mrs. Simons walked by their station and once again looked Alex up and down through her glasses, which only made Alex stop throwing things and get down to business.  
"If you have any questions" Mrs. Simons said to everybody, but looking at Alex, "dont hesitate to shout out my name!" and she walked around the other groups to see if they all needed any help as well.

"which pan should I use for the omelet?" Alex asked Paige, looking confused. Paige laughed, "no idea, hun, why dont you ask the teacher?"

"Mrs Simmons-"  
"Simons" corrected the teacher as she appeared quickly in front of Alex, making her jump, "right, sorry" Alex said, slightly smiling, "for the omelet, which pan should we use?" but before the teacher could answer, Dylan interrupted, "we're making the omelet for four people, which just means you have to add this, multiply it by this then divide it by 4" and he was pointing to things around the kitchen which was only making Alex a little more confused, "then you'll know that _This _pan" he picks up one of the bigger ones, "is the pan you'll need to make the omelet"

"Thanks Mr. Know-it-all" she said sarcastically, "but I'm trying to _LEARN_ here and Mrs. _Simons_ is helping me do that"

Just then Alex's attention was caught by the 17 year old across from her, he appeared to be chuckling.

"whats your issue pipsqueak?"

The 17 year old, named Henry, stopped chuckling then said, "oh nothing, my friends and I were just commenting on how odd of a couple you and your girlfriend are."

"Meaning?" Alex inquired with a slight humorous smile, squinting her eyes at this new acquaintance.

"oh just how you wear mostly black and the other wears mostly pink. You're just an odd couple, that's all" and he chuckled again.

Alex chuckled herself as she found this whole situation more than amusing. She shook her head slightly then looked again at Henry, raising her casted arm, "know how I got this cast?" she said still smiling, wanting him to inquire.

He shook his head, "how'd you get the cast?"

"by beating up bitches like you. And for my probation I have to take anger management classes" of which the 17 year old boy looked at her somewhat frightened before getting back to his cooking with his group mates.

"you aren't on _probation!" _whispered Paige as she tried not to laugh, "nor do you have anger issues!"

Alex laughed, "he doesnt know that." she noticed Dylan glaring at her while he was finishing up with the muffins, "are you serious?!" she breathed, "stop glaring at me! We're supposed to have fun here!" but before Dylan could reply, Alex was raising her hand and shouting at Mrs. Simons to come to her kitchenette, "Mrs. Simmons- I mean Simons! Dylan and I are not agreeing whatsoever and I think we make terrible partners, can you do something about it!" but before she could answer that question she reported to the whole class, "its time to wrap up everybody! Next time we'll have more time for cooking!" she paused and looked at Alex, "and be on the lookout for possible group changes" of which more than half of the class sighed heavily.

As they were all walking towards the car, Dylan and Alex couldnt help but bicker, "you're the reason we didn't finish the recipe"

"you're the one who makes this class _NOT_ fun for me! And you're the one who said Cooking is Your Friend!"

Marco interrupted, "guys, guys, please stop fighting, its just a cooking class!"

The rest of the week went by uneventfully. Now that Paige had transferred to Toronto U., her grades were doing much better and she had the support she was looking for that she hadn't gotten at Banting. She's no longer depressed and loves the fact that her girlfriend was now stateside again. Alex was going to school part time since she arrived home early from Cambridge and working a full time job on campus. Next week's cooking class should be a lot more fun since they wont be sitting at a desk "learning" about cooking, instead they'll actually be "cooking".


	8. changing the subject

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: welcome to chapter 8! enjoy, R&R please, makes me happy!**

The following cooking class was quite humorous. Although Mrs. Simons said that there might be possible group changes, the only changes made were Dylan and Marco being switched to the group that was originally across from them. Which of course only meant that now Alex and Paige had their new found friends, Henry and his 17 year old twin brother, Jack, in their group. Jack was a bit rambunctious with a little bit of ADHD mixed in.

"Good evening class!" Mrs Simons shrieked happily, "find your assigned seats at the tables, get to know your cooking buddies then head on over to your kitchens and start cooking!" she clapped her hands giddily once again before going around to all the tables to see how everybody was coming along.

Paige and Alex found their seats at the table closest to the front and noticed the names on the sheet of paper in front of them, "what is this?!" whisper yelled Alex as she picked it up, "I think I'd rather have Mr.-Know-it-all back in our group!" just then she noticed Henry and his brother coming towards the table, so she took a seat and kicked her feet up to rest them on the table, "whats up new cooking buddy" she said in a somewhat sarcastic tone with a slight smile. she moved her casted arm slightly as she noticed Henry was looking at it cautiously. She only continued to smile out of amusement. She realized that she could have a lot of fun with her new cooking partner, but fought the urge in her head to just stay civil.

Jack, who was oblivious to everything, just gamboled over and shook hands with his new cooking partners, "hey so what are we cooking tonight?" he asked happily as they all made their way over to their kitchenette. Once Alex put on her apron, she leaned on the counter to read what the recipe said, "hmm, looks like tonight is eggs benedict and made-from-scratch bread." she looked at the paper then tossed it aside, "whatever that means" then she noticed the container that was in front of her, "ooh, but we have flour" and she took out a small handful and threw it in Paige's direction. Paige gasped and her hands flew up to try to stop the flour from hitting her in the face, "_not cool" _she griped as she pointed a finger at Alex who was trying to muffle her laughter.

Mrs. Simons came into view, walking slowly and eyeing Alex who pretended to be getting things ready for the meal they were supposed to be preparing. It always seemed that Mrs. Simons was right there when Alex was about to get herself into trouble. As Mrs. Simons walked passed, Alex turned around to look at Paige but was only greeted by Paige pretending to sneeze and blowing flour into Alex's face. The two girls started laughing but quickly stopped when they noticed Dylan's glaring eyes looking at them as he pointed the knife he had in his hand at them.

Finally, the group began working on the recipe and much to everybody's surprise, Alex was having a good time and was actually getting along with Henry, the two seemed to have made a connection over eggs.

"Dude" Marco remarked as he looked over to the other kitchenette, "we could totally make eggs benedict for the family dinner that's coming up!"

"hmm, no, too easy" replied Dylan, "if you know our parents then you'll know they'll want nothing less than perfection."

Alex sighed, "and whats that? Oh wait, no gay children?" and she slapped her knee and chuckled at her stupid joke, "just _kidding_" she retorted just in time before Dylan could comment, "stop bothering me, Dylan, I'm _trying to cook and you're ruining my MoJo!__"_she flipped her hair and began chopping onions._  
_

Dylan just gritted his teeth, he knew she was just trying to aggravate him, but she was doing a great job.

After a minute, Paige replied innocently, "I'm not gay", which because of the timing, only made everybody laugh, even Dylan. Marco replied, "well you might not be, but your girlfriend most certainly is, and lets just say she's butch enough for the both of ya".

Alex smiled contently, "hey thanks, Marco" then she inched her way closer to Paige and put her arm around her, whispering sweet nothings in her ear, which for a moment, the two became lost in their own little world chuckling and whispering as they stood ever so close to each other, "you're so cute when you have flour on your face" chuckled Alex as she wiped the flour off of Paige's face, who only continued to blush, "well you're just too sweet even if others think you're a bad ass."

"hmm, excuse me ladies" Henry said as he tried to reach around them for the flour, "not to interrupt your love fest over here, but, I need...the flour".

All of a sudden Jack burst out laughing, then said, "Hank, do you remember the time when we switched dates!"  
"Not now, Jack!" warned Henry as he spun around quickly, but Jack didnt hear him, or just didnt care, and continued with this memory, "and because it went so terribly wrong thats when Mom found out that we both liked guys!" of which Alex gasped, "what?!"

Jack only continued to laugh, "yeah, but Hank isnt Out, he's like one of those homophobic homos or whatever"  
"I'm _Bisexual"_ snapped Henry

"hey, me too!" Paige replied happily, not really listening in on the conversation, but enough to have caught that part.

Jack continued telling the story, "yeah, its funny because we were having a family dinner and we got to invite "our friends" but we forgot to communicate with them that we were just supposed to be friends that night and our Mom caught me with Hank's date making out in the bathroom. Now mind you, Hank's 'friend' is a dude and Mom was able to connect the dots—talk about a rampage!" he paused as he added the final touch to the eggs benedict, "oh, but the rampage was only because we didnt tell her sooner that we both liked guys. Very supportive Mom's we got".  
"Thats kinda like my mom" replied Alex, "she says as long as I'm happy then she's happy, it doesnt matter who I fall in love with."

"Lucky for you" Dylan retorted, "but you did sign up for being in our dysfunctional family, so when you get rejected, dont take it too seriously, happens all the time."

"and to think the family dinner is next week" Marco reminded everybody, "cant wait to see how that goes."

After the cooking class the four made their way back home where they proceeded to argue about how the future family dinner will begin and end.

"wouldn't it be hysterical if one of us came out?" Paige inquired, but knowing her brother would freak out at the question.

"noooo!" he replied wide-eyed, "Mom and Dad are perfectionists—Mom mostly, she'd like, kill everybody in the family because somewhere along the line somebody disappointed her."

"at least I'm still in school" argued Paige, switching the subject.

"I'm taking a year off!" Dylan snapped, "and Mom knows that and supports my decision!"

"yeah, well, at least she likes me more though."

"whatever" he replied, "you're so queer."

"not as queer as you!" she laughed before being pulled away into the other room by an amused Alex. As they were out of view, Alex proceeded to slowly pull Paige to her and began kissing her sweetly before saying, "I wanted to do that all night, you are just the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

Paige smiled as they kissed, then said, "do you realize how in love with you I am? I fall in love with you even more every day, you're my everything."

"and you're mine" whispered Alex as she put her forehead against Paige's, "you're my rock."

"Lets go to bed" Paige whispered happily as she led Alex to their bedroom. The two got ready for bed and Alex laid on her back as Paige rested her head on Alex's chest with her arm around her waist where the two fell fast asleep, happily in each other's arms with not a care in the world.


	9. its not just a cookie

"I cannot believe everybody's parents are coming over in two days!" whined Alex to Jay as they were walking up to his house from the driveway, "I barely know Paige's parents and yet I'm already stressed out from all this crap we have to do to get ready for the family get together."

"you guys have been together almost a year now, right?" he asked, "how is it that you still dont know her parents all that well?"

"They're uptight, and I'm gay. And maybe a little scared."

Jay didnt seem to care about her whining and went off on a different subject, "hey, do you remember when we used to smoke a lot of pot?" he chuckled, "I mean, _a lot_ of pot?"

"yeah, Jay, so?"

"well, one of my friends taught me how to make butter out of that shit!"

"what?" she asked, genuinely confused.

"oh my god, this is going to be so cool! Follow me!" he said as he hurried his way to the kitchen, seemingly very excited. He pulled out a good sized container from the fridge and handed it to Alex, "So what do you want to make? Brownies, cookies... uh, Pasta?" he asked, barely able to hold in the excitement in his voice.

"Jesus, Jay, this must be like 5 pounds of butter here, what's it for?" she opened the container then looked up at Jay, "not to burst your bubble Jay, but its green, I think it's mold or something"

"thats Mary Jane butter, Lexi!" He said triumphantly with a huge smile on his face, "It's supposed to look like that! Its called _Cannabudder_" and Jay continued to tell Alex about the marijuana butter and how to make it and what it does and what you could put it in and what the effects are. By the time he was done explaining it to her, she had this little smirk on her face, which only meant that she was trying to conjure up something evil.

"How big do the cookies have to be in order to get the full effect?" she asked as she put the butter on the table.

"Oh, not big at all. Since the THC is so potent, I think small cookies would be good, like, maybe 2 each or something, like the size of a donut hole or something."

"what are the effects?" she inquired, "would it be just like smoking a J?"

Jay walked over to the cupboard, took out a jar and walked back over to where Alex was standing and handed her a small cookie, "here, taste it yourself" he replied, still smiling ear to ear.

Alex took the cookie, "if I'm going to get fucked up over this, then you need to have one too, I'm not about to look like a jackass by myself"

"deal" he replied as the two took bites out of their cookies.

After taking another bite, Alex replied, "wow, this tastes just like a regular cookie!? Can I get another one to take home for Paige to sample?"

"yeah, yeah, go right ahead, and if you want to make it then let me know, I can give you what you need."

"Hey thanks, Jay!" and with that, Alex was out the door and on her bike in a flash, she was excited to get back to her house to tell Paige about her possible idea. The cookie hit her quicker than she was expecting it would, but luckily for her she was just a block away from her house. She noticed Paige was sitting outside with Marco when she came swerving up and almost crashing right into the house! Instead of crashing into the house, she managed to skid and fall off right in front of the porch where she proceeded to stay sprawled out just looking up at the sky.

"Hey, a cookie!" announced Marco as he leaped up from the porch and grabbed the cookie. Before Alex could stop him, he had gobbled it up and was sitting back on the porch talking with Paige.  
Alex's reflexes were delayed and it for some reason took her longer to get into a sitting position then she was wanting it to. She put up her hand to let them know she wanted to say something, but then just shook her head. She was definitely feeling the effects, which only then made her start laughing. Paige looked at her with a hint of amusement as she sat forward in her chair, wanting to say something through her smile but not sure what to say.

Finally Alex was able to gather her thoughts, "You should not have eaten the cookie, Marco!" she said, somewhat in a hurried tone.  
"it was there for the taking, sorry to have hurt your feelings." he replied, somewhat smiling, but not sure why.

"you didnt hurt my feelings, its just that, that cookie isnt a regular cookie-"  
"was he your friend?" Marco replied sarcastically, "like, instead of a pet rock it was a pet cookie?"

"noooo, Marco, it was a _pot_ cookie!"

"What?!" he and Paige replied in unison

"I'm allergic to Pot!" he yelled, "why didnt you tell me this beforehand, Alex?!" He said, beginning to run around but not sure where to run to, so he just ended up running in semi circles.

"You didnt give me the chance! Now I hope you get tons of rashes for being mean!" retorted Alex.

"thats not funny!" he yelled, "great, now my throat is going to close up, I'm gonna have a migraine! Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!" he ran inside to find some allergy medicine as Paige still sat calmly in her chair.

Alex managed to get herself up to sit next to her before she whispered, "he wont get any allergic reaction, there are no leaves in the cookie"

"and how do you know that?" Paige asked, putting her arm around Alex to steady her, still being calm and relaxed.

"because its made from butter." and there she proceeded to tell Paige what Jay just taught her about the cannabudder and somewhat hinted to her the plan she was thinking about.

Paige chuckled, "You know, I really do like that idea, however, I dont think Dyl would go for it, he's too...he's too...whats the word..."

"uptight?" replied Alex as she half laid in Paige's lap, trying to get comfortable as best as her high body would let her.

Paige laughed, "yeah, thats the word." she paused, "maybe we could do it without his noticing. I think I remember my mom saying that when she tried pot once she was completely euphoric and had no cares in the world. Maybe if she is as high as a kite I could tell her that you and I are together."  
"you'd actually tell your mom you're _dating a giiirrrllll?_" Alex joked, "thats blasphemous" of which they both burst out laughing. Just then they heard Marco in the house still panicking, unable to find any allergy medicine.

"are you going to tell him?" Paige asked, "or let him suffer?"

"eh, maybe let him suffer a little bit more." she chuckled but then called to Marco. When he came into view, Alex replied, "you're fine, you Queer, you're not allergic to the THC and that's all thats in the cookie"  
"How do you know!" he replied still panicky.

Alex laughed, "because I just do. Now stop worrying and just have a good trip. Lay in the grass with me! And I'll tell you about my idea! And what the cookie is made out of."


	10. pre party planning

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: now this was a fun chapter to write, let me know what you think!**

The morning of the family dinner there was tension in the house as soon as everybody woke up. All Alex wanted to do was have a good day, which meant turning on the stereo and dancing in the kitchen while getting things ready for the day. She was the first to wake up this morning, followed by Marco, who only matched her spaz dancing after his first cup of coffee. Not too long after, a tired looking, but smiling, Paige came walking down the stairs and into the kitchen, only to be met by tossing flour and pancakes in the air.

"Hey Babe!" smiled Alex as she semi-danced her way over to Paige, wrapping her arms around her, half spinning her around before kissing her sweetly, "good morning to you!"

Paige chuckled, "whats with the mess?" she pointed to the counters that were filled with packages and containers.

"we are making breakfast, then afterwards we will be starting on the dinner" Marco replied, looking over his shoulder after flipping the pancakes.

"dont forget the cookies" laughed Alex, still holding onto Paige, "how'd you sleep?" she whispered.

Paige yawned with a smile, which only meant she slept well.

"well go get ready then come join our party!" Alex smiled herself before playfully pushing Paige toward the stairs.

Paige walked up the stairs and was met by her brother at the top, who appeared to be just waking up himself. She beat him to the bathroom where she proceeded to take a shower to wake herself up and get ready for the day.

_Today's going to be a good day_ she said to herself as she finished getting dressed. She looked in the mirror, fixing her hair, still smiling. Thoughts of the day were running through her head as she hummed softly, but when she opened the bathroom door she heard some arguing downstairs, where she immediately rushed down the stairs to see who the arguing was coming from.

Everybody!

"Why are you guys fighting?!" she snapped, watching Dylan try to grab one of the mixing bowls out of Alex's hands.

"Mr. Uptight-Know-It-all doesnt know how to have fun!" Alex retorted, forcefully reclaiming the mixing bowl Dylan managed to take from her. She stopped in her tracks, "_You need to leave for the day, Dylan_" she said harshly

"Excuse me?!" he said, with a hint of irritation in his voice, but before he could say anything else, Marco interrupted, "I actually think that's a good idea. I mean, we have it under control, Dyl"  
_"We know how to cook, Dylan_!" Alex continued ranting, "I didnt put on my best Apron for nothing, nor did I come down here to put on my rave music only for it to be turned off and bashed by you! Either calm the fuck down and work with us as a _TEAM_ or leave us alone!" She glanced at the open fridge, "dont make me give you a cookie! Now leave!" she said as she pushed him towards the front door. They looked at each other in the eyes before Alex continued, "trust me" which was almost a whisper, low enough that only Dylan could hear her.

"Go to the store and buy Mom flowers or something" Paige managed to squeak out before he headed out the door. Dylan knew he wouldnt win so he shook his head and left.

About 20 minutes later, there was a knock at the door.

"ooooh, the main cookie ingredient has arrived!" clapped Alex excitedly as she skipped towards the door. She opened it and Jay was standing in front of her, holding up a plastic bag.

"Cant stay Lexi, but I'm sure your guests will love this!" he winked before heading back to his car.

"Thanks Jay!" she yelled back to him. She shut the door and skipped back to the kitchen.

"This is going to greeaat!" she shrieked looking at Paige. "hold that thought!" she smiled, just thinking of an idea. She ran to the other room then came running back into the kitchen with a CD. "Now, dont laugh, this is one of my all time favorite songs. Its a little different than the rave music." She put it in the CD player then grabbed the wooden spoon she was using from the mixing bowl before sidestepping her way towards an amused looking Paige.

"_I've heard people say that_

_Too much of anything is not good for you, baby_

_But, I dont know about that"_

As soon as the song started Alex lip-synced the words, but since it was a song nobody was expecting, especially a slow sappy song from Barry White, both Paige and Marco looked at each other and cracked up laughing! Alex twirled around Paige who was still laughing, but finding this random act of sweetness too cute she stopped laughing and watched Alex continue to twirl and sing.

"_Oh, some things I cant get used to_

_No matter how I try_

_Just like the more you give, the more I want_

_And baby, that's no lie, oh no, babe"_

Alex winked before stealing a kiss from Paige, then whispering in time with the music, "_I cant get enough of your love baaaaaaaabe!"_

"aww!" Paige sighed, "leave it up to you to think of something this sweet!" she wrapped her arms around Alex's waist, "I think you just made my week."

"Is that why you wanted Dylan to leave?" joked Marco as he began preparing the cookies.

"ha, no, I wanted Dylan to leave because he's too uptight and would not have let me play that song and 'fool around' like I just did. Dont get me wrong, I love him like a brother" which, she paused and chuckled at what she just said, "well, I guess he is my brother-in-law. Haha! Anyway, sometimes he just needs to chiiiilll"

As Paige and Alex were helping prepare the rest of the things being made for dinner, Alex couldnt help but every now and then tickle Paige or steal kisses or just touch her. Paige noticed this but wasnt complaining, "somebody's extra lovey today." she joked.

"well" Alex began, licking her finger that had some dough on it, "I kept having these weird dreams last night, like, we kept breaking up and then you'd go off and date guys. There was one where I got fired from my job and because I didnt have a back up plan, you kept getting on my case and I said something about not everybody has their life planned out to a T or something like that. Then I woke up so I dont know how any of them ended." she chuckled.

Paige moved closer, "well, if it helps any, you're the one who taught me that not having a plan is okay." she smiled widely.

"sweet!" Marco thought aloud, "all we have to do is let everything set and we're good to go!" he didnt notice the girls having a little semi heart-to-heart discussion as his back was turned away from them and he was jamming out to the music, "Just two more hours and everybody will be here!" he turned around, only to see Paige and Alex slow dancing to the music.

"Gross, guys" he said playfully, "get a room will you!"

Paige joked back, "this is our house too, so dont start with me!"

"Hey, so Marco, is your dad coming?"

"thats a negative on that one" he said, rolling his eyes, "he's still not too keen on the fact that he has a gay son...who has a boyfriend...and is living with two gay girls." his eyes lit up, "But my mom will be here! She said 'with bells on' whatever that means." he chuckled.

"I think that just means she's happy to be coming." replied Alex, "my mom is coming, and she's been sober for 2 months now, which is longer than the last time I think."

"my parentals will be here, how about we give them a cookie as soon as they arrive?!" Paige joked, "I'm so nervous and I dont even know why! Oh wait, yes I do, it's because we're going to give them pot cookies and tell them I like women but love one in particular!" of which everybody chuckled.

Not too long afterwards, Dylan came in the front door with two dozen roses in his possession. He handed a card to Alex and said softly, "I've been a jerk and I realize that." he shrugged his shoulders, "I'm anxious and nervous about the family dinner-" he looked at his watch, "in less than one hour, and sometimes I get carried away."

"you're forgiven" smirked Alex.

While Dylan went into the kitchen to try to find a vase or two, the other three finished getting ready for the party and met in the living room where they continued to chat and make light conversation.

Not too long afterwards Dylan came out, but something appeared to be off. Dylan stumbled into the living room with a smirk on his face.

"why is your equilibrium off?" inquired Alex looking at him suspiciously, "the parents should be here any minute."

Just as the doorbell rang and Marco went up to answer it, Dylan uncovered a cookie he had in his hand, "now these are pretty good, why didnt anybody tell me about these cookies!?"

"you weren't supposed to have them!" Alex said forcefully, not sure what to make of the situation since she didnt know how Dylan acted when under the influence.

"let the party begin!" he laughed, raising both his arms as Alex's and Marco's moms appeared around the corner.


End file.
